And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that meddling fire chief…

And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that meddling fire chief…

Unlikely series of events leads to charge of illegal dumping

news@theeveningtimes.com

The person responsible for dumping construction debris along the side of Newsom Road and setting it on fire picked the wrong person to have respond to the fire.

County Judge Woody Wheeless, who also happens to be the fire chief in Marion, was driving back to the fire station after responding to a bad wreck on the I-55 overpass when he got the call.

“They had everything under control so I told them I was going back to the fire station,” Wheeless said. “I made it up to Highway 77 and Military Road when the tones went off for the fire on Newsom. I was the only one who was able to go at that particular point so I went out there, set the truck up, and put the fire out myself.”

It was evident to Wheeless that someone had recently torn down a structure and illegally dumped the debris along the side of the road.

“I knew right away just by where it was located that it was an illegal dump,” Wheeless said. “It’s a common spot where people dump. We have this going on there all the time in this spot.”

After he put the fire out, Wheeless sifted through the debris looking for clues as to who was responsible or where the debris had come from and found a name and an address in West Memphis.

Wheeless happened to know the person and called him to inquire as to whether he had a structure torn down recently.

It turns out that the homeowner had hired a contractor to tear down a shed on the property on East Barton Avenue. As far as the homeowner knew, the contractor

had hauled off the

debris to the landfill.

“I knew this individual,” Wheeless said. “He’s a good Christian man and I knew there was no way this guy would do that. He apologized probably 40 times and said he had no idea. He was told they got a receipt from the landfill.”

Wheeless then contacted the contractor and was told that he paid somebody who came by in a pick up truck who was needing some money $70 to haul it off to the landfill. The contractor told Wheeless he did not know the name of the man he paid.

“He said he was just helping that individual out,” Wheeless said. “The guy came up and needed some work and asked if he could help out. They loaded everything on his truck, gave him $40 to haul it to the landfill, ten dollars for the landfill fee, and $20 for gas and his time. So he gave him $70 to do it and they guy just took it and dumps it along the side of the road and put the $70 in his pocket.”

Wheeless gave the contractor one day to clean the site up.

“He told me ‘I’ve learned my lesson. I will never do that again,’” Wheeless said. As county judge, Wheeless has been very proactive about citing individuals for illegal dumping in the county.

Earlier this year a contractor in Earle was fined $500 and ordered to clean up a dump site or else face a $5,000 fine and 180 days in jail for dumping material along Franks Corner Road.

“The wrong person went and put that fire out,” Wheeless said. “I will not tolerate illegal dumping. If we find you, you’re going to clean it up and be fined.”

By Mark Randall